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In his first-ever ballot as a voter in the poll, Kiffin voted his Trojans as the preseason No. 1 team in the nation.

His quote about the poll came in response to being told that Arizona coach Rich Rodriguez had voted USC No. 1.

Each coach's vote normally is kept confidential until the final vote of the regular season under an agreement between USA TODAY Sports and the American Football Coaches Association. However, when a voter volunteers false or misleading information about his vote in public, then USA TODAY Sports, in its oversight role as administrator of the poll, will set the record straight to protect the poll's integrity.

Kiffin told USA TODAY Sports by phone Thursday night that he didn't think the quote misrepresented his vote. By saying what he did, Kiffin said he meant that he wouldn't vote USC No. 1 if he were in the media or coaching another team. Because of NCAA-imposed scholarship restrictions, USC is operating with 75 scholarship players, 10 less than the regular maximum of 85.

"We have less players than everybody else," Kiffin said. "So looking at it from the outside, I wouldn't (vote USC No. 1). Did I? Yeah, I did. That's not based off of 75 vs. 85. That's based off of (USC players) Matt Barkley, T.J. McDonald and Robert Woods and Marqise Lee. When everybody has the same record, I can't go into a meeting with our players and have them say, 'You put that team and that team ahead of us.' That's why I did that."

But the players normally would not have found out about his vote until the end of the season, making it impossible for them to raise objections about it before then.

"I don't really buy things are confidential anymore," Kiffin said.

Grant Teaff, executive director of the AFCA, confirmed he sent Kiffin a letter about the matter after being told about it by USA TODAY Sports. Teaff declined to reveal details about the letter.

He said all coaches have the right to publicly talk about their vote if they wish.

"They have a responsibility when they talk to be responsible for what they say," Teaff said.

A similar situation arose in 2006, when Ohio State coach Jim Tressel said he voted Texas No. 1, even though his ballot listed Ohio State at No. 1. An Ohio State official blamed it on a miscommunication with Tressel, who had the official submit his vote for him. At that time, USA TODAY Sports also published a story about the discrepancy between the coach's vote and what he said about his vote in public.